The instant invention relates generally to transporters for crop harvesting implements, and more particularly to a jack for such a transporter that automatically folds up to the transport position when it is no longer required.
Generally, harvesting equipment, particularly hay harvesting equipment, has been designed and manufactured with a transverse width that would permit transport thereof over the highway and through farm gates. Although the hay harvesting machines commonly referred to as pivot tongue windrowers, such as those shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,081,946, granted in 1978 to Philip J. Ehrhart, were generally wider in a transverse direction than previous pull-type hay harvesting machines, the centrally mounted pivoted drawbar permitted towing of the harvester directly behind the tractor in a centrally located position and, therefore, transport of the harvester in a normal operational orientation was possible.
Increasing transverse widths of such harvesting machines, however, prevents harvesters from being towed over the highway and through restrictive openings behind the tractor in a normal orientation, necessitating the provision of alternative means of transport. Two methods of transporting such implements in a transverse orientation are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,962,853 and 3,721,461. Such apparatus requires a movement of wheels, hitches, jacks, etc. to equip the harvester for movement in a transverse direction, including the disconnection and reconnection of appropriate hitches to the tractor.
The development of the pivot tongue harvester with a laterally extendible drawbar, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,560, permits the harvester to be mounted on a transporter and transported in a lateral orientation by utilizing the drawbar of the harvester as the hitch connection to the tractor. Such a transporter utilizes transversely extending load ramps to permit the harvester to be elevated from the ground onto the transporter. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,607,996, granted to Earl E. Koch in 1986, discloses a transporter developed for carrying an implement of the type including a pivot tongue arched over the crop cutterhead of the implement and pivoted at is rear end to a location midway between the opposing side ends of the wheel-supported frame from which the cutterhead, or header, is suspended. The transporter includes a manually operated jack that must be hand-cranked into and out of ground engagement to provide stability to the transporter during the loading operation.
Another example of a transporter is U.S. Pat. No. 5,975,829, issued to Walters et al. in 1999. The transporter shown in the ""829 patent, while very similar to the Koch patent mentioned above, differs, inter alia, in that it shows two alternative types of jacksxe2x80x94one that requires the operator to manually set them at the proper height and to manually adjust them for transport, and another that, through a linkage system, moves in close proximity to the ground when the ramps are down and into a transport position when the ramps are raised.
It would be desirable and beneficial to provide a stabilizing jack that does not require a complex linkage to operate, yet automatically, i.e., without manual intervention, folds up after the implement is fully loaded for transport.
It is an object of this invention to provide an implement transporter having a stabilizing jack that can be deployed during the loading process and automatically folds out of the way after the implement is fully loaded.
It is a broad object of this invention to provide an improved implement transporter of the type described herein that is reliable and stable in design and simple in construction.
It is a feature of this invention to provide an implement transporter with a stabilizing jack that automatically folds up to a transport position without the need for either manual intervention or the use of a complex linkage system.
It is another feature of the instant invention to provide an implement transporter that employs a jack that provides stability to the transporter during the loading process, yet folds up to a transport position either immediately thereafter or when the transporter is moved forward and the jack lightly engages either the ground or some other obstacle.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a lateral transporter for carrying a harvesting machine in a transverse orientation that is durable in construction, inexpensive of manufacture, low in maintenance, facile in assemblage, and simple and effective in use.
These and other objects, features and advantages are accomplished according to the instant invention by providing a transporter for use in transporting a harvesting machine, wherein the transporter has a jack on the forward end thereof to be deployed during the loading process for improved stability. The jack includes components that lock the jack in place when a load is applied to the jack and unlocks the jack when that load is removed, allowing it to pivot rearwardly to a transport position without manual intervention.